This application relates generally to communication systems, and, more particularly, to wireless communication systems.
Wireless communication systems typically deploy numerous base stations (or other types of wireless access points such as eNodeBs) for providing wireless connectivity to user equipment such as mobile units or other wireless-enabled devices. Each base station is responsible for providing wireless connectivity to the user equipment located in a particular cell or sector served by the base station. The air interface between the base station and the user equipment supports downlink (or forward link) channels for carrying information from the base station to the user equipment and uplink (or reverse link) channels for carrying information from the user equipment to the base station. The uplink and/or downlink channels typically include data channels for carrying data traffic such as voice information and control channels for carrying control signal such as pilot signals, synchronization signals, acknowledgment signals, and the like.
Conventional base stations may use antennas or arrays of antennas that can be reconfigured after deployment. For example, parameters such as the antenna tilt, azimuth, transmission power, or beamwidth can be varied to modify the coverage area of the antenna or antenna array. The typical approach for reconfiguring base station antennas uses drive-by testing to evaluate the coverage provided by a network of base stations and then manually reconfiguring the base station antennas to modify the coverage area based upon the results of the drive-by testing. However, manual intervention is typically very costly, which limits its applicability.